road shifters

hey, not sure if this is the right forum or not, but it seemed fitting for my question, so

Right now im riding a Felt F75 and I love it, however I was thinking about changing the shifters. Right now its a full shimano gruppo (105 shifters and front derauler, ultegra rear derauler) and I was thinking about changing to either, champagnolo record, sram rival, or shimano ultegra.

Is there any noticeable difference between 105 and ultegra shifters? or is it just lighter?
Im drawn to the champognolo's mainly due to their rep of being one of the best on the market, however does the downshift button on the inside of the lever ever get in the way of riding on the hoods? How easy is it to reach up and shift gears with your thumb? And concerning the sram rival, what does everyone think of the double tap technology? so far iv been reading nothing but good things about sram.
What do you guys recommend?

There was a thread either on this page, or one page back discussing the differences between the shimano line, and whether or not it's worth the upgrade. Long thread, some flaming to sift though, but a good read for your cause.

As for what the SRAM Rival shifters are like, they're pretty cool. You can also pull the shifter inwards like a trigger while in the drops, placing it wherever you'd like towards the bar. In terms of performance, weight puts them up with Ultegra, and shifting performance to match. Keep in mind though, a SRAM shifter has to be paired with a SRAM detailer.

As for campy stuff, I have no experience, but if you're considering SRAM Rival instead of SRAM Force or Red, I'd think you'd be more interested in the Chorus line or Veloce in terms of prices, which more so matches the Ultegra prices.

Can I ask why the upgrade?

well, i ride on the hoods alot! And im not sure if its just my grip, or the shape of the hoods in relation to my hands, but after every ride my hands are aching like no other. I mean I expected a little soreness after the callous developed, but sometimes its so bad I can even pick up a beer at the end of the day.

From what iv been looking at, I can get a pair of ultegra shifters for $300, and a pair of campy records for $290. After reading your post I think i might pass on the Sram shifters, I don’t have money to upgrade both shifters and derailleur

If you change to full ultegra all you need is the front derailleur and levers - but what you would save from going the whole group (Sram or campy) you colud also upgrade to an ultegra chain and rear cassette - you will have smooth perfect shifting for years.

I have never tried sram, but i personally prefer the feel of Shimano to campy, I think campy has the nice look - more traditional shaped lever - but I love my ultegra.

Your hands are not going to be any less sore if you change 105 to Ultegra or DA - they all have the same shape. This is a bike fit problem, not a shifter problem. You either need to experiment with shifter location on the bar, bar angle, bar height, stem length or even frame size, or get expert fit advice.

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Moving up the Shimano line from 105 is a waste of cash. A few grams here and there are meaningless. Changing over to Campy is pretty pricey.